This study focuses on seismic behaviour of tall piers characterized by high slender ratio. Two analysis models were developed based on elastic-plastic hinged beam element and elastic-plastic fiber beam element, respectively. The effect of the division density of elastic-plastic hinged beam element on seismic demand was discussed firstly to seek a rational analysis model for tall piers. Then structural seismic behaviour such as the formation of plastic hinges, the development of plastic zone, and the displacement at the top of the tall piers were investigated through incremental dynamic analysis. It showed that the seismic behaviour of a tall pier was quite different from that of a lower pier due to higher modes contributions. In a tall pier, an additional plastic zone may occur at the middle height of the pier with the increase of seismic excitation. Moreover, the maximum curvature reaction at the bottom section and maximum lateral displacement at the top turned out to be seriously out of phase for a tall pier due to the higher modes effect, and thus pushover analysis can not appropriately predict the local displacement capacity.