It is known that motor cortex neurons are activated at a variety of timing during self-initiated voluntary movement. However, how excitatory and inhibitory neurons in distinct cortical layers of motor cortex participate in organizing the voluntary movement has been poorly understood. Here, we performed juxtacellular and multiunit recordings from motor cortex of actively behaving rats to demonstrate temporally and functionally distinct activations of excitatory pyramidal cells and inhibitory fast-spiking (FS) interneurons. Across cortical layers, pyramidal cells were activated diversely for sequential motor phases (e.g., preparation, initiation, execution). In contrast, FS interneurons, including parvalbumin-positive basket cells, were recruited predominantly for motor execution with pyramidal cells producing a command-like activity. Thus, FS interneurons may underlie command-shaping by balanced inhibition or recurrent inhibition, rather than command-gating by temporally alternating excitation and inhibition. Furthermore, our cross-correlation analysis of multiunit activity suggested that initiation-associated pyramidal cells discharged synchronously with similar and different functional classes of neurons through direct (or indirect) synaptic connections. It implies that these cells do not just initiate voluntary movement but also coordinate sequential motor information.