The natural frequencies of a long span bridge vary during its construction and it is thus difficult to apply traditional tuned liquid column dampers (TLCD) with a fixed configuration to reduce bridge vibration. The restriction of TLCD imposed by frequency tuning requirement also make it difficult to be applied to structure with either very low or high natural frequency. A semi-active tuned liquid column damper (SATLCD), whose natural frequency can be altered by active control of liquid column pressure, is studied in this paper. The principle of SATLCD with adaptive tuning capacity is first introduced. The analytical models are then developed for lateral vibration of a structure with SATLCD and torsional vibration of a structure with SATLCD, respectively, under either harmonic or white noise excitation. The non-linear damping property of SATLCD is linearized by an equivalent linearization technique. Extensive parametric studies are finally carried out in the frequency domain to find the beneficial parameters by which the maximum vibration reduction can be achieved. The key parameters investigated include the distance from the centre line of SATLCD to the rotational axis of a structure, the ratio of horizontal length to the total length of liquid column, head loss coefficient, and frequency offset ratio. The investigations demonstrate that SATLCD can provide a greater flexibility for its application in practice and achieve a high degree of vibration reduction. The sensitivity of SATLCD to the frequency offset between the damper and structure can be improved by adapting its frequency precisely to the measured structural frequency.