"one way that a group of things can be lined up one after the other, which is different than any of the many other possible ways you could have lined them up instead"
This is great. I made my comment in a rush, the thing I was trying to describe wasn’t a single permutation, but the concept. Turns out you made that easy for me too: “the ways you can line up a group of things”.
When all we have are the most used words, it can be easier to show what something is by showing what it isn't instead. :)
“it is not the notes you play that are important but the notes you do not play”. I don’t think the up goer understands jazz but I think it gets the concept