Abstract: A method and apparatus for measuring the tension of a thin, plane membrane (1). In accordance with the method, a burst of a membrane wave (2) is generated by a transducer element (3) e.g. a loudspeaker (3). The velocity of the membrane wave (2) is measured. The velocity measurement value of the membrane wave (2) is squared and multiplied by the basis weight of the membrane (1) in order to determine the tension. According to the invention, a light beam (10) is generated by at least one light emitting element (5), each light beam (10) is projected with help of projecting members (6 or 14, 15, 17) onto the membrane (1) in order to generate a light spot (4 or 19), the light spot (4 or 19) vibrating on the membrane (1) is converted into an electrical signal dependent on the position of the light spot (19) by means of at least one detector element (8 or 18 ) in order to determine the membrane wave (2) and the signal is processed in a processor (9) in order to determine the velocity of the membrane wave (2).