The kinetic description of linear waves in plasmas is succinctly presented, with emphasis on applications to highfrequency (hf) wave heating and current drive. The Maxwell-Vlasov system of equations is introduced. Its twotimescale analysis yields the linearized Vlasov and the quasilinear Fokker-Planck equations. The standard guiding centre and Hamiltonian formalisms are presented. Two formulations of the hf plasma wave equation are given: as a partial differential equation to hold at each position, and as a global Galerkin (`variational') form.