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Not to be struck: notes held or silently depressed rather than played — on the piano, keys pressed down without sound so their strings ring in sympathy, or held notes not to be repeated.
Printed over or beside notes, usually in piano music, sometimes with diamond-shaped or bracketed noteheads. It applies only to the notes it marks: either keys pressed down silently so their strings can ring in sympathy, or held notes that are not to be played again.
Silently depressed keys let other notes’ overtones set their strings vibrating — a faint halo once a chord is released — while held notes marked not struck simply continue. Make clear which you mean: diamond noteheads and a footnote for silent keys, ties for held notes. Warlock places it beside a rall. al fine at pppp, where any resonance is most audible.
Warlock, Saudades, “Heracleitus”, piano, m. 16: “not struck”, beside “rall. al fine” and a pppp.
Not struck is one of 1755 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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