By means of a theoretical approach recently developed by Pegg and Series (1970, 1973), the consequences of misalignment of the rotating field in magnetic resonance are investigated. Three main effects arise: a shift in the resonance frequency, a reduction in power broadening, and the appearance of 'multiple quantum' resonances at integral multiples of the rotating field frequency. For small misalignment angle theta , the misalignment shift is proportional to theta 4 and may be neglected in usual medium-precision experiments. The multiplicity of resonances should be readily detectable in optical pumping experiments.