Figuring out 7th chords by ear might seem intimidating, but listening for a few specific things can make it a lot easier.

The only "stable" sounding 7th chords are the major 7th and the minor 7th, because these are the only chords that can be used as the tonic chord for a major or minor scale. To my ears, a major 7th chord sounds "dreamy" or "sparkly" because it contains both the leading tone and the tonic. Weirdly, a minor 7th chord sounds an awful lot like a major chord, because the top three notes (b3-5-b7) spell out a major triad. So don't expend a minor 7th chord to sound "extra minor". If anything, expect the opposite. A minor 7th chord sounds a bit brighter than a regular minor triad, and a major 7th chord sounds a bit darker than a regular major triad.

Dominant 7th chords are the most common musical tension that our ears might be used to. They typically resolve back to the home chord of the key. A blues song might be made up entirely of dominant 7th chords, so you could also think of them as bluesy. Be careful with this though, because I also find the sound of a half-diminished 7th chord to be bluesy or jazzy.

Fully-diminished 7th chords are made up of stacked minor thirds, so it is a linear chord. It holds the most tension out of any other 7th chord and resolve a lot of different ways.

Half-diminished 7th chords can also be known as minor 7th flat 5 chords because they are spelled with the same intervals. In jazz music, these are typically used as "pre-dominant" chords which come before a dominant V7, which can then resolve to I. To my ears, these sound like more funky minor chord.

Ultimately, if you aren't playing these chords on an instrument you probably won't be very successful at this exercise, so get to work!

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