To dale, lots of types of tuned mass dampers are developed and investigated to reduce dynamic responses of a structure due to various causes. In this study, control performance of semi-active tuned mass damper(STMD), that can change the damping of tuned mass damper in real time based on structural responses, was investigated with respect to various types of excitation employing numerical simulation. Skyhook control algorithm was used to appropriately modulate the damping ratio of semi-active damper that composes STMD. The control effectiveness of a STMD under harmonic and random excitation were evaluated using a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) structure in comparison with a conventional passive tuned mass damper (TMD). The robustness of a STMD and a passive TMD were compared along with the variation of the mass of a SDOF structure. The control performance of STMD using magnetorheological (MR) damper was also investigated in this study. Based on the numerical studios, it was shown that the control effectiveness of the STMD was significantly superior to that of a passive TMD with respect to harmonic and random excitation.