A comparative study of different damping models has been made in an effort to gauge the effect of the damping model on the inelastic response of multi-storey reinforced concrete frames. It will be shown that the higher mode response in an inelastic analysis cannot be ignored as it can in an elastic analysis and, in fact, affects the response markedly. As a consequence, the amount of damping imposed on the higher modes becomes important. Using a dynamic analysis program to analyse six and twelve storey one way frames keeping all other parameters constant, the amounts of damping in the various modes of vibration were varied. Elastic and inelastic analyses were carried out to contrast their response due to varying the damping modes. Through an analysis of the results, some recommendations are made as to the amounts of damping to be associated with the different modes of vibration to help obtain a realistic structural response.