Kinetic effects such as those of finite Larmor radius (FLR) and. wave–particle resonances on the ideal Alfvén-wave continuum in a z-pinch geometry are investigated. The effect of FLR increases the order of the equations and is therefore treated as a singular perturbation. Similar eigenvalue curves are found as for the case when the non-ideal effect is resistivity, with a bifurcation of a global-mode branch into a boundary-mode branch and an internal-mode branch.