Thinking about it ... is 'ad lib' the right term for a few bars that can be missed out? I'm more used to seeing 'ad lib' in the context of cadenzas or sections where the 'soloist' is in control of the tempo/interpretation.
Maybe the bars in question should be indicated with brackets and marked as 'optional'.
Michael Withers
Because of the confusion, I never use the term "ad lib." or its equivalent "a piacere." For the situation described, I would notate the passage at 75% of full size and mark it "to be played or not, as desired (to m. 173)"--or whatever the last optional measure is. If you don't use running measure numbers (and if not, why not?), then you need to mark the first non-optional measure with something like "(end optional passage)".
I would not use the word "obbligato," which someone else suggested, because this word too has a lot of confusion attached, and can in fact mean the exact opposite of what you intend. It *ought* to mean "obligatory," and often does, but there is a tradition of using the term to designate optional solo passages such as the piccolo "obbligato" in "The Stars and Stripes Forever" which is in fact optional (though no-one dares omit it these days--so the non-obbligato obbligato has become an obbligato obbligato).
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Andrew Stiller
Kallisti Music Press
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