Write chords in four parts

Four steps

Every chord you write above a figured bass, in this lesson and in question 1 of the exam, goes the same way:

1. Name the chord from the bass and the figures.
2. List its three notes, with the raised 7th if the key is minor.
3. Choose the note to double: the root in root position, the bass in a six-four or a diminished chord, never the leading note.
4. Place the soprano, then the alto and tenor, each in range, with no more than an octave between soprano and alto, or between alto and tenor.

Why soprano first? It is the line people hear most clearly. In a progression it should move mostly by step; the inner voices then take the nearest notes.