At this point, you shouldn't concern yourself with playing music on the practice chanter. You are practicing exercises, even when you are playing a tune. The practice chanter is NOT a musical instrument in the sense that you can be in perfect tune with another one. In time, it will stop sounding like a kazoo. As you develop your lung power and can blow steadily from the diaphragm, you'll stop hearing those squeeks. Correct fingering helps too.
The sole (looks like a disc) on the bottom is said to improve the sound production. It may also provide some stability when resting on the table. Most practice chanters I see in use don't have them.
There are at least two piping tutors, the College of Piping by Seumas MacNeill and the Sandy Jones book. I know of two others and will reference them in the links section later. If you've never played a music instrument, I recommend the Sandy Jones book, which focuses on finger exercises, etc. I started out on the College of Piping tutor, myself, but didn't really make much progress until I started attending band practice. This is one area where having an instructor is very helpful.
All the books tell you to start out playing "low G" by covering all the hole and blowing. This is very difficult to accomplish. It may sound like this or this. Learning how to position your hands so that your fingers are straight (try popsicle stick splints, if necessary) and cover the holes is something that takes time and proper instruction. I found it helpful to study pictures of pipers like this one.
Instead, try blowing E. Do this by placing your thumb on the back hole, your left index and middle finger on the top two holes, your left ring finger off the next hole, your right index, middle and ring finger on the next holes and your right little off the last hole.
Blow steadily, from your diaphragm. A picture's worth a thousand words. Below is a link to a page showing photos of finger positions.
David Walsh's Stupid Bagpipe Tricks
The notes are low G, low A, B, C, D, E, F, high G, high A.
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