A motor driving apparatus includes a virtual difference voltage detecting unit operable to detect a difference voltage between a virtual neutral point of a resistor circuit connected in parallel to motor coils and a terminal of a motor coil in non-conduction state, a rotor position detecting unit operable to detect a position of the rotor based on the difference voltage, and a controller operable to control commutation of an inverter based on the rotor position. The motor driving apparatus has a searching start mode for detecting the rotor position and energizes the coils, and a back electromotive voltage feedback mode for controlling commutation based on the back electromotive voltage. In the searching start mode, a rotor position searching process and a rotation start torque applying process are alternately performed.